Police Hand Out Flurry Of Tickets For Distracted Driving

Hartford gave out 91 tickets for distracted driving during the first few hours of a month-long crackdown

HARTFORD — There was yelling, crying and quiet seething Wednesday as Hartford police handed out close to 100 tickets during the first leg of a monthlong, statewide effort to prevent distracted driving.

The Hartford department is one of 50 around the state who are targeting drivers illegally using cellphones. A $2.3 million grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is helping pay for the effort, called "U drive. U text. U pay." Connecticut is the only state to get that type of federal grant.

Police from Bridgeport to Willimantic peered into cars to check for compliance. In Manchester, a morning session yielded 100 tickets for cellphone use and other violations, said Aaron Swanson of the state Department of Transportation. West Hartford gave out 40 tickets for cell phone violations in the first half of the day, and Danbury issued 45. In Bridgeport, one of the violators was a mother who was calling her daughter to warn her about the enforcement effort, he said.

The fine for a first offense is $150. A second offense costs $300, and a three-time offender pays $500.

Hartford police stopped cars, trucks and vans in the area of Airport Road Wednesday morning, giving out 91 tickets in less than 3 1/2 hours, said Officer Michael Diana. The traffic officers planned to go to a new location in the afternoon and to conduct similar operations in different parts of the city this month.

The operation works like this: An undercover officer looks for violators and relays information about how the person is breaking the law and what kind of vehicle is being driven. In Hartford, the spotter wore dark clothes and stood behind a tree on an incline overlooking the road.

A second officer down the street, Officer Gerald Morgan, directed the drivers into an empty parking lot, blowing a whistle to get their attention. Even with the shrill whistle blasts, it wasn't always easy. Sometimes, Morgan said, they were slow to respond because "they were too busy being distracted."

Courtesy of the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Officers from 50 towns and cities, plus state troopers, will be on the lookout for illegal cell phone use during phase 2 of an enforcement effort called "U drive. U text. U pay" Wednesday.

Officers from 50 towns and cities, plus state troopers, will be on the lookout for illegal cell phone use during phase 2 of an enforcement effort called "U drive. U text. U pay" Wednesday. (Courtesy of the Connecticut Department of Transportation.)

One of the drivers pulled over was Celines Colon.

"Stop! Stop!" Morgan yelled at her, blowing his whistle as she almost drove past him. Her phone was still in her hand.

Colon, a social worker for a drug treatment program, said she was on the phone with a co-worker about a client who had relapsed. She acknowledged that she could have pulled into a gas station and had the conversation.

"I take 100-percent responsibility," she said. "It's against the law. Lesson learned."

Not everyone was so contrite.

One driver angrily denied that she had been on her cellphone. Asked what she was doing, she said — as her cellphone rang — "I was driving my car." Questioned further, she told a reporter that at the moment she was spotted holding her phone, she was plugging it in.

Frank Driscoll also was livid. He had earbuds connected to his phone so he could be hands-free, he said. He said he had his cellphone in a cup holder, but the spotter reported seeing it in his right hand.

Driscoll also complained that the ticket had a notation indicating he had been texting. Diana later said if a spotter reports that he saw a driver holding or manipulating a phone in any way, the officer who fills out the ticket will write "texting."

A Hartford woman with a tear-streaked face said she had been holding her cellphone as she was waiting for a call from her mother. She wanted to make sure her mom had made it to her home, where the woman's son had been home alone. When she saw police officers, she tossed the phone and tried to put on her seat belt, but it was too late.

"I was rushing," she said. "I was late for work."

Some drivers didn't realize it's illegal to simply hold a cellphone, even if it's not near their ear, while the car is in operation. That is true even if they are stopped at a red light.

Carlos Figueroa said he had his speaker phone option activated, but his phone was in his right hand.

Asked if he will hold his cellphone while driving any more, he said no.